The Protectorate of Lower Down is a titanic, efficient nation, ruled by Lou Underman with an iron fist, and remarkable for its fear of technology, compulsory vegetarianism, and parental licensing program. The hard-nosed, cynical, humorless, devout population of 21.162 billion Lower Downians are ruled by a mostly-benevolent dictator, who grants the populace the freedom to live their own lives but watches carefully for anyone to slip up.

The enormous, corrupt, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Administration, Law & Order, and Education. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Rock Bottom. The average income tax rate is 98.2%.

The frighteningly efficient Lower Downian economy, worth a remarkable 6,400 trillion tails a year, is mostly comprised of black market activity, especially in Arms Manufacturing, Woodchip Exports, Uranium Mining, and Book Publishing. Average income is an amazing 302,467 tails, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 3.8 times as much as the poorest.

The public health bureaucracy is wrapped in miles of red tape, millions of Lower Downians are excellent swimmers, the economy is undergoing a traumatic transition to capitalism, and onions have been banned due to their tendency to cause eye irritation. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Lower Down's national animal is the bottom crawler, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation, and its national religion is Down.

Lower Down is ranked 320,178^th in the world and 2^nd in The Nether for Most Scientifically Advanced, scoring -154.14 on the Kurzweil Singularity Index.